These rules apply to TCP/IP in general and to TCP/IP on the i5/OS® operating system.
To manage packets on your system, you should consider these rules as you implement routing functions on your system. These rules can help you determine what is happening to the packets on your system and where they might be going. As with most rules, there are exceptions.
Virtual IP (connectionless) addresses are assigned to the system.
The exception in this case is that if the address is associated with an unnumbered interface, or if IP NAT or filtering is active, the packet might be forwarded or discarded.